Brook Kleppetsch's Reviews > I am Elephant, I am Butterfly

I Am Elephant, I Am Butterfly is a genuinely beautiful coming of age story with exceptional input into the teenage psyche. We follow Simone into the blue ridge mountains to Camp Kamama, a retreat for overweight girls who need to learn to love their body and themselves. But when Simone meets another girl from the camp across the lake, whose about half her size, will they be able to reconcile their differences and be friends? Or are they more similar than either of them could have guessed?

I don’t know how this is my first Leslie Tall Manning book, but it won’t be my last. This local author absolutely grabbed at my heartstrings and wouldn’t let go. Her characters are well-developed and they each have such an important battle to fight; the battle of forgiving themselves. The scenery is beautiful and well-written so that I really felt that I was at the camp with the girls. Even the side characters, like the counselors, have depth to them. The book was well paced and I read it in just 3 sittings.
The only thing I would change is that I WANTED MORE! I think it would have been interesting to read from a few different POVs, but that’s just me being greedy.